Baltimore, MD ( Jan. 23, 2013) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Todd A. Beans, 21, of Riva, pleaded guilty to unlawfully disposing of cans of paint at various locations along Anne Arundel County highways. Anne Arundel County District Court Judge Shaem C. P. Spencer sentenced Beans to a 30-day suspended sentence and imposed a $500 fine. Beans was also placed on probation for one year and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

"We can protect the health and safety of our environment by properly disposing of pollutants such as paint," said Attorney General Gansler. "This is a great example of what happens when residents report environmental hazards and then state and local authorities respond together to address them."

On February 9, 2012, the Anne Arundel County Highways Department responded to three separate locations in the Riva and Edgewater areas for illegal dumping complaints. Crews arriving found a total of 109 containers of latex paint dumped on the travelled portions of the roadways. Labels on the containers indicated the distributors, through which the Maryland Department of the Environment's Emergency Response Division was able to identify the purchaser as being Cypress Paint Systems.

Investigation by the Attorney General's Environmental Crimes Unit (ECU) revealed that Cypress Paint Systems owners had hired Beans to transport paint that had become frozen to a local landfill. Beans returned to the office claiming that he had taken care of it and collected $150. After the company was advised of the dumping, Beans admitted that he was responsible.

Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorney General Jay Robinson and ECU Chief Investigator David Williams for their work on the case and the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works, Bureau of Highways and the Maryland Department of the Environment.